The inventive concept relates generally to semiconductor memory devices, and more particularly, to storage devices including non-volatile memory device(s) and repair methods for same.
Semiconductor memory devices may be volatile or nonvolatile in their operative natures. Volatile semiconductor memory devices may perform read and write operations at relatively high speed, but stored data is lost when power is interrupted. Nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices are able to retain stored data in the absence of applied power.
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices include, for example, mask read-only memory (MROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), and the like. Flash memory is a type of EEPROM, and has been widely adopted for use in many applications. For example, flash memory is commonly used to store voice and image data in information appliances such as computers, cellular phones, PDAs, digital cameras, camcorders, voice recorders, MP3 players, handheld PCs, game machines, facsimiles, scanners, printers, and the like.
More recently, a great deal of research has been expended in the development of contemporary nonvolatile memory devices including a stacked or three-dimensional (3D) memory cell array.